Ernest Harold 'Tiger' Black BEM (1918 – 30 August 1983) was an Australian rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He later became a rugby league broadcaster and commentator.

Playing career

Born and raised at

Arncliffe, New South Wales Arncliffe is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Arncliffe is located 11 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Bayside Council. Arncliffe is south ...

, Ernie 'Tiger' Black began playing rugby league with his local

Arncliffe Scots The Sydney Combined Competition (SCC) formerly Inner City Combined Competition (ICCC) is an amateur rugby league competition for both senior and junior rugby league clubs in the St. George, Canterbury-Bankstown, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Ea ...

club in the early 1930s. He played Presidents Cup with

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

and was graded in 1937. He was a tenacious hooker, standing only 5 ft 1in (155 cm) and weighing only 60 kg. He raked against the biggest players of his day, always holding his own. Due to his small stature, and fearless disposition, he became forever known by the nickname 'Tiger'. Black was a member of the Dragons' 1938 premiership winning Reserve Grade side - the first

team to win a premiership. He played several first grade games in 1940 before painful kidney and back injuries curtailed his career at the age of 22, although he won another premiership when he played in the victorious St. George Reserve Grade team in 1940. Upon retirement, 'Tiger' Black moved into club administration, and held many offices at

St George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

over a number of years. In latter years he was a Director of the

Media career

In 1946, 'Tiger' Black became a rugby league broadcaster with Sydney Radio station

2UW KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on ARN's KIIS Network. The station's headline show is ''The Kyle and Jackie O Show''. ...

. Later, he moved to 2UE and lastly to

2KY Sky Sports Radio (formerly 2KY) is a commercial radio station based in Sydney, broadcasting throughout New South Wales and Canberra on a network of over 140 narrowcast transmitters as well as the main 1017 AM frequency in Sydney. It broadcasts ...

. With

, Black traveled the world many times, broadcasting Kangaroo Tours and World Cup matches. He is remembered alongside his great friend

Frank Hyde Frank Hyde MBE OAM (7 February 1916 – 24 September 2007) was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and radio caller. A New South Wales representative three-quarter, Hyde played his club football in Sydney for NSWRFL Premiership clubs ...

, as one of the greatest rugby league callers of the 1950s and 1960s.

Death

'Tiger' Black collapsed at his beloved St. George League Club on 30 August 1983, and died shortly afterwards. A hugely attended funeral at St. Davids Church Arncliffe, preceded his burial at Woronora Cemetery,

Sutherland, New South Wales Sutherland is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the ...

on 2 September 1983.

Accolades

Black was awarded Life Membership of the

in 1965 and he was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

(BEM) in the

1979 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1979 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1979 to celebr ...

in recognition of service to sport. In 2014, 'Tiger' Black was inducted in the

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and association f ...

Media Hall Of Honour for service to the media.

References

1918 births 1983 deaths St. George Dragons players Australian rugby league players Australian rugby league commentators Recipients of the British Empire Medal Australian rugby league administrators Rugby league hookers Date of birth missing Rugby league players from Sydney Burials at Woronora Memorial Park {{Australia-rugbyleague-bio-1910s-stub